Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, will visit Vietnam (Hanoi) on August 1, 2022.
The Minister will be received by Vietnam’s President, Ngyen Xuan Phuc, and Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chinh, and will hold talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, Bui Thanh Son.
The two Foreign Ministers’ talks are expected to focus on the prospects for strengthening bilateral relations in a wide range of areas (such as economy, shipping, and tourism), European Union-Vietnam relations, the two countries’ shared commitment to International Law, including the Law of the Sea, as well as on international developments.
During the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic Academies of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries is scheduled to be signed.
In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will present the Vietnamese National Olympic Committee with financial aid from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a special ceremony. The aid will be handed over to the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Dao Cuong, with whom Mr. Dendias will also hold a meeting to discuss bilateral cooperation.
During his stay in Hanoi, the Minister will lay a wreath at Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum).
The Minister’s visit to Hanoi follows Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan’s visit to Athens (November 2021) and President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou’s visit to Hanoi last May.
Minister of Foreign Affairs will then travel to Cambodia (Phnom Penh, August, 1-3, 2022), where he will participate in the 55th ASEAN (Association of South – East Asian Nations) Summit.
On August 3, the Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) will be signed.
Representatives from Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Netherlands, and Oman are expected to sign the Instrument of Accession to the TAC at the same ceremony.
On the sidelines of the ASEAN proceedings, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is scheduled to hold meetings with a number of his counterparts from ASEAN member states. In particular, with the Prime Minister (and Foreign Minister) of Brunei, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and the Deputy Prime Minister (and Foreign Minister) of Thailand, Don Pramudwinai, as well as with the Foreign Ministers of Singapore, Vivian Balakrishnan, and Cambodia, Prak Sokhonn (August 2).
Lastly, the following day, August 3, Mr. Dendias is expected to meet with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, and the Foreign Ministers of India and the Philippines, S. Jaishankar and Enrique Manalo respectively.